Nerve-racking finish in favour of the BJP in Dubbak by-poll is the most unexpected result for the ruling TRS. This is the second such shock since it came to power in 2014 and the first being the loss of Chief Minister’s daughter, Kalvakuntla Kavita, in Nizamabad in Parliament elections in 2019.
TRS could find some reasons for the Nizamabad loss citing the Narendra Modi factor working in Parliament elections. But in Dubbak, BJP had no such advantage and the win will hurt the TRS a lot. It being a by-poll will only add to its wound with everyone expecting it to win comfortably with all the resources at its disposal.
The TRS loss will have an impact on the perceived power structure within the party and in all likelihood, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao may emerge much stronger with Harish Rao losing that advantage of the ‘go-getter’ and ‘most dependable’ tag.
Both KTR and KCR absenting themselves from the poll campaign with all the faith put in Mr. Harish Rao will also help in someone not pointing out fingers at them for the loss. The blame will be shifted to Mr. Harish Rao, which he has already admitted right after the results. Not that his capabilities will be questioned openly but a sense of dejection will prevail among his silent supporters within the party.
The last by-election that the TRS won in Huzurnagar went into KTR’s kitty as he led the campaign aggressively defeating the wife of TPCC working president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who had a sway over the constituency for almost two decades. On the other hand, Dubbak is an out and out TRS strong belt surrounded by Gajwel, Siddipet and Sircilla constituencies represented by the three most powerful leaders.
“Comparisons are bound to be made with the results of two by-elections that TRS won after its landslide victory in general elections in 2018,” a senior TRS leader agreed. “Now, there is a strong feeling that a couple of public meetings by KCR and KTR would have made a difference to the result,” he argued.
It was interesting that Mr. KTR did not even utter a word right through the election campaign of Dubbak as he occupied himself with the flood issues in Hyderabad. In fact, in an invited chat with reporters two days before the polling, he preferred to speak on GHMC issues and reluctantly referred to the by-poll stating that it was in the safe hands of Mr. Harish Rao and did not see any necessity for KCR or him to join the campaign.
The defeat, however, will be the talk of the town for some time to come or at least the BJP will drag till the GHMC elections keeping the limelight on TRS.
